Japan Wayfinding Signage Research Report

SD3253

STUDY TRIP (COMMUNICATION DESIGN)

RESEARCH REPORT Chan Fei, Ann 17040598D

CONTENT BACKGROUND RESEARCH METHOD SIGNAGE DESIGN EFFECTIVENESS COMPARISON REFLECTION

BACKGROUND

Signage design can reveal the effectiveness of the design directly and clearly, it also can reflect the city planning, lifestyle, and culture of the city or country. As a city which is the emphasis on design, how Japan design and apply the road signages.

This report divided into 6 parts, including the background, research method, the finding and analysis of the signage design, the effectiveness, the comparison, and the conclusion and reflection.

The road signs (Direction Signs) for the expressway driver.

The road signs in the street and road. (For pedestrian)

The road signages is very common in the street in Japan. The signages can divided into 2 parts simply, which for the driver and pedestrian. However, as a visitor and consider the time and feasibility. The research report is more focus on the signages for the pedestrian.

RESEARCH METHOD

In the study trip, I will visit Tokyo and Osaka, also keep to research and study about the road signs during the whole trip.

Therefore, I also planned some location for visit and research such as the Jimbocho, Kamakura in Tokyo, Dotonbori and Fushimi in Osaka. Those locations maybe have some characteristic road signs. For instance, Jimbocho preserve the streetscape of Showa period so maybe it will have the old signage of Japan. Kamakura is famous on the Odakyu Electric Railway, so there maybe have some specific road sign for the railway. In addition, it can compare the difference of road signs between Tokyo and Osaka.

1. Observation and recording In the study trip, I observed and recorded the road signage I had seen. The recording methods included the photo taking and drawing, which can collect numerous data for analysis. These data can find out the pattern and for comparison.

2. Case study Case study can understand the research and signage design in detail, maybe reveal the background meaning of the signage such as the culture or lifestyle of the city.

3. User test The road signage design is a tool, to communicate with people so the user test is to find out the effectiveness of the signage design. However, consider the time and resource, I would be the user, as a visitor, to test the effectiveness of the road signage.

How I understand and the limitation of the signage.

SIGNAGE DESIGN

The road signages are standardized by the Japan Government, "Order on Road Sign, Road Line, and Road Surface Marking" established in 1968. Its origins are Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department's "Order on Standardization of Road Sign" in 1934 and Home Ministry of Japan's "Order on Road Signs" in 1942.

TYPE The road signages can be divide into Principal Sign and Supplemental Sign. Among on the Principal Sign, it can also divide into 4 different usage, Guide Signs, Warning Signs, Regulatory Signs and Instruction Signs.

Guide signs indicate directions or distances of the road. Most of the guide signs are for the driver, they apply on the road and expressways.

TYPOGRAPHY The road signs are normally written in Japanese and English. In the guide signs, the signage uses the highway gothic typeface (公団ゴシック) which is specifically design for the expressway. The driver can recognize the text fastly and clearly even in 100kh per hour and 140 meters.

The characteristics of highway gothic typeface are simplified and deformation.

Some words in Japanese are the same as Chinese characters which are complicated.

The highway gothic typeface simplifies the detail of the words and keeps the contour.

For example, in the highway gothic (the white color), the “隹” of the word “鷹” is simplified, but we also can identify the character even it simplifies the detail. It is also the characteristic of Chinese characters. Moreover, the highway gothic typeface may change with the appearance of the word. Such as “東京” and “京都”, the space of word “京“ had a little bit different.

Although it would widen the font to increase the recognition, it will have different space of the word to balance the typography.

Besides the highway gothic font used at expressway of guide signs, other signages usually use round typeface which looks comfortable and clear, also match the characteristic of Japanese. In English, the road signs use Vialog. Both of the typefaces are sans serifs and good at readability.

COLOUR The colour of the road signs follow the JIS specification, which mean the Japan Industrial Standards. There have a specific value, hue and chroma to formulate the four main color, red, blue, green and yellow. Also, the different type of signage has a color system. For example, in the guide signs for the expressway, it always uses dark green for the background. In urban areas and on national highways, the direction signs use the dark blue for the background. The warning signs use the yellow and black color. The main color of the regulatory signs and instruction signs are white, red and blue. The supplemental signs assist to understand the rule of the principal sign, it always has black and white text or the red direction only.

R: 251 G: 28 B: 42 R: 11 G: 73 B: 157

R: 255 G: 217 B: 0

R: 1 G: 115 B: 86

PICTOGRAM The pictogram of the road signs are using graphic style. Most of the pictogram use silhouette to present the character, it is more clear and easy to recognize even in far away.

A

Pictogram from regulatory signs “Pedestrians only”

B

Pictogram from regulatory signs “Road closed to pedestrians”

Besides the graphic style, the layer of road signs also has a little bit different between the normal signage. To compare the regulatory signs with Hong Kong, the character of Japan road signs are always on the top layer. However, in most of the regulatory signs, the bar will on the top layer to block the character.

A

B

In my opinion, I think the blocking bar should put on the top layer because the user can identify and understand the signages by the blocking bar.

Layer3

Layer3

Layer2 Layer2

“No two-person motorcycles” Japan Road Signs

Layer1

“No motorcycles” Hong Kong Road Signs

Layer1

In addition, I also find out some interesting signage. Such as the signage on the left-hand side, it involves a lot of messages. In the pictogram, we can see the someone walk the dog, an elderly with a crutch, and two children with the school bag are talking. However, it is hard to understand the signage by the pictogram because of over information.

B

A

D

C

SHAPE The main shape of the road signs including square, rectangle, triangle, circle.

The guide signs have usually are the rectangle, it also has the arrow shape which can direct the user clearly by the shape. Sometimes, the guide signs also have the shield shape.The warning signs are the square with the diamond border.

Most of the times, the warning signs usually are the triangle shape, the warning signs in Japan may be a little bit different from the normal warning signs, but it also has more space of the signage to present the message or information.

The regulatory signs had various shape, including the rectangle, triangle, circle. The instruction signs had the rectangle and the triangle. The shape of supplement signs usually is the rectangle, it mostly has text and direction only.

A

Direction Signs / Arrow Shape

B

Warning Signs / Square with the diamond border.

C

Instruction signs / The triangle.

D

Regulatory signs / The circle.

Supplemental signs / The rectangle.

Supplemental signs / The rectangle.

SPACE On the pedestrian view, the road sign always install in the intersection of the street and road. The height of the road sign is about 2-3 meters. The user can perceive the signage easily when they coming from different direction. Even in the different angle, the user can get the message from the different signage.

MATERIAL Most of the road signs are made by the metal board which is very common.

However, all of the road signages are using some reflective material. It is high-performance reflective and can be reflected even by only a small amount of light which can effectively improve the visibility of traffic signs at night or when visibility decreases.

In addition, besides the metal board, there also have some lightbox signage because of the limitation of the environment. The size of the lightbox signage is much bigger, it usually installs at the intersection of the alley to improve the visibility when insufficient lighting.

A

B

SORTING The road sign is very common on the street in Japan, also has more than one signage on the wire pole. In the sorting of the signage, the supplement sign always be the secondary, it follows the principal signs and explain the terms of the signs.

C

D

E

A

B C

D

E

F

Regulatory signs : Bicycles and Pedestrians only Supplement signs : Pedestrians Priority Regulatory signs : Pedestrians Only Supplement signs : Except 7:30-8:30am,1-3pm on Satuarday and Sunday, Except the Bicycles Regulatory signs : No Trucks Supplement signs : Large vehicles carrying over 2t

F

G

H

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

Warning signs : School Area Supplement signs : School Road Regulatory signs : Road closed to vehicles Supplement signs : Except Taxi Regulatory signs : No Parking Supplement signs : Except the Guest of Taxi Waiting from 20m Direction signs : Detour Supplement signs : Restriction over 12t

I J K L

M

N

EFFECTIVENESS

To evaluate the effectiveness of the road signs in Japan, I divided into the aesthetics & attention degree and location & clarity, to analysis advantage and limitation of the road sign.

AESTHETICS & ATTENTION DEGREE As a road signage, the attention degree is one of the important points, it needs to attract the user to pay attention to the signage and express the message. The road sign in Japan is eye-catching because of using the red, blue, yellow and green color.

However, it also matches the environment of the street even using the high saturation color. In my opinion, it is because of the street design. In Japan, all of the streets were planned and designed. Most of the building is using a very soft color tone such as beige or warm grey. Therefore, the environmental emphasis and balance the road signs, we also would not feel uncomfortable with the road sign even it using the high saturation color.

LOCATION & CLARITY The road signs always install in the intersection of the street and road. The height of the road sign is about 2-3 meters. As a pedestrian, I can perceive the signage easily when I coming from the different direction, and understand the signage while walking or cross the street. The clarity is affected by the signage design, including the pictogram, typography and even the material. In my experience, as a visitor and the limitation of language, most of the time I can understand the signage by the pictogram. However, sometimes I think there may have too much information on the pictogram which will affect the understanding. Besides, the supplement sign also will affect the understanding. Although the supplement sign can explain the regulations by text, it also means the user needs more time to understand the signage.

COMPARSION

As a visitor, I am always curious about the road signs in Japan because of the different living environment. To compare the road signages between Hong Kong and Japan, I think the biggest difference part is the typography. The road signs in Japan is formulated and made by Japan Government, so all of the signage is unite as a system.

However, the typography of road signs in Hong Kong is made by prisoners. Owing to lack of professional knowledge of design, there will have some abnormal typography appear on the road signs.

Such as the image, the spacing of typography, the wording "Pokfulam" is closer than the English of "錙港䝔"(Aberdeen). That problem will mislead the user to understand the signage. Besides, because of the culture, all of the road signs in Hong Kong has 2 languages which are more user-friendly, also take care of the foreigner' needs and more clear than Japan's road signs.

In addition, to compare the road signages between Hong Kong and Japan, due to Hong Kong does not have a rigorous standardization for the road signs, so some of the road signs which are former and old also retain and keeping to use in nowadays. The variety o f road signs in Hong Kong also become a characteristic thing of the road.

REFLECTION

In the beginning, I expected to study the all of the signage in Japan, including the wayfinding signage of the shopping mall or plaza which are install on the street to lead and welcome the people to visit the mall.

However, when I arrived in Japan and started my research, I find out the topic is out of my expectation because there have no any signage of the shopping mall on the street. Therefore, I tried to change the topic to study the shop signages but I think it relates the branding and marketing, even maybe the background story of the shop. As a visitor, time is a consideration so finally, I keep to research the road signs in Japan and study carefully, to analysis the details of the road signs.

After the research, I learn to use different view and angle to research and evaluate something. I always will start to thinking by myself, such as when I talking about the signage, I always think about the user is local people firstly. However, in this time, as a visitor, how I understand the signage without language understanding. It inspires me a lot and useful in my design future, how to consider all of the user's needs and balance the target or client. Moreover, I gain much from the study trip, it attracts me to pay attention to the signage of Hong Kong. To discover some signage which I never look out before. That experience also increases the knowledge of road sign design for me. All in all, I am really enjoy this experience to study in the different country and culture, also the living experience with my classmate.